Mohammadreza Naghavi; Farshid Khosropour
Volume 12, Issue 3 , Summer 2020, , Pages 196-204
Abstract
Background: Explaining the risk and protective factors of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is the mostimportant principle in designing preventive interventions. This study examined the relationship betweenself-reported childhood abuse and WTS among health science students in Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional ...
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Background: Explaining the risk and protective factors of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is the mostimportant principle in designing preventive interventions. This study examined the relationship betweenself-reported childhood abuse and WTS among health science students in Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 776 health science students in Kerman City,located in southeast of Iran, who were selected by quota sampling approach. The study was performed usingtwo valid short instruments for measuring WTS and child abuse including physical, emotional, and sexualabuse using a self-report method.Findings: The prevalence of ever use and current use (last 30 days) of WTS among participants was 49.6%and 33.4%, respectively. The initiation age of WTS in 60% of students was < 18 years. Child sexual abuse(CSA) was [odds ratio (OR) = 3.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.06-4.52, P < 0.001] the main predictorfor WTS among students.Conclusion: Protecting children during childhood to prevent them from becoming victims may be anessential primordial preventive strategy for WTS.
Najmeh Pourramazani; Hamid Sharifi; Abedin Iranpour
Volume 11, Issue 1 , Spring 2019, , Pages 58-65
Abstract
Background: Social capital (SC) is one of the most important assets and a vital determinant of sustainabledevelopment of any country. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the relationshipbetween SC and substance use (SU) in Southeast Iranian adolescents.Methods: This cross-sectional ...
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Background: Social capital (SC) is one of the most important assets and a vital determinant of sustainabledevelopment of any country. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the relationshipbetween SC and substance use (SU) in Southeast Iranian adolescents.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among high school students in three cities located in southeast of Iran. We recruited 600 adolescents (329 girls and 271 boys) through multistage sampling duringSeptember to November 2018. The data collection instrument was a self-administered standardizedquestionnaire that included basic demographic characteristics, SC constructs items, and questions about SUbehavior in the participants.Findings: The mean SC score among boys and girls studied was 3.46 and 3.33, respectively (from 5 score).Among the SC constructs, respectively, the lowest and highest score belonged to social trust and [2.84 in girlsand 2.98 in boys with 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.06-0.21, P < 0.001] and bonding to family (3.92 ingirls and 4.25 in boys with 95% CI of 0.22-0.44, P < 0.001). The ever use prevalence of at least one substanceabuse was 55.9% (n = 181) for boys and 36.6% (n = 68) for girls. Hookah (41.8%) and alcohol (16.9%) were themost substances abused by participants. One-point increase in score of the constructs of social participation,social cohesion, bonding with family, and bonding with schools was associated with a reduce of 17%, 22%, 26%,and 46% in the probability of ever SU, respectively.Conclusion: There was a strong relationship between SU and SC. Thus, rising SC as an effective communitybased and indirect approach can help policy makers and professionals in preventing SU in Iran. However, priorto any intervention, identification of more causality may be required
Chin-Siang Ang; Kye-Mei Teo; Yong-Le Ong; Siau-Li Siak
Volume 11, Issue 1 , Spring 2019, , Pages 1-10
Abstract
Background: The exponential growth of smartphones has afforded many users with ubiquitous access to socialization as seen in the various mobile apps used to communicate and connect with others. The present study employed mixed-method approaches to analyse the impact of phubbing on social connectedness ...
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Background: The exponential growth of smartphones has afforded many users with ubiquitous access to socialization as seen in the various mobile apps used to communicate and connect with others. The present study employed mixed-method approaches to analyse the impact of phubbing on social connectedness among adolescents in Malaysia. Methods:A total of 568 adolescents were participated in quantitative surveys, and of these participating adolescents, 6 were further invited to join focus group interviews. Findings: Quantitative findings supported the mediating role of communication disturbance in the relationships between phone obsession and familial connectedness, school connectedness, and self-connectedness, but not for friendship connectedness. Qualitative findings further elucidated the detrimental effect of phone obsession on their sense of belonging from the perspectives of adolescents. Conclusion: This study reaffirms that phubbing behaviour is predictive of social disconnectedness. Therefore, preventive and treatment interventions should be developed to avoid and control a potential risk of social disconnectedness epidemics attribute to phubbing.
Ali Bahramnejad; Abedin Iranpour; Mashallah Karbakhsh; Nouzar Nakhaee
Volume 9, Issue 4 , Autumn 2017, , Pages 237-242
Abstract
Background: Adolescence is the age of increased sensation-seeking and risk-taking. To prevent such behaviors, the adolescent tendency to engage in high-risk behaviors must be measureable. This study aimed to develop a questionnaire about risk-taking tendencies among Iranian students.Methods: This study ...
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Background: Adolescence is the age of increased sensation-seeking and risk-taking. To prevent such behaviors, the adolescent tendency to engage in high-risk behaviors must be measureable. This study aimed to develop a questionnaire about risk-taking tendencies among Iranian students.Methods: This study was conducted using cluster sampling of the tenth-grade students in three cities in Kerman province, Iran. The students were assured that the questionnaires would remain anonymous and unlinked. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and comparison of known groups. Corrected item-scale correlation and Cronbach's alpha were calculated to evaluate reliability.Findings: A total of 551 high school students participated in this study. Of these, 57 were excluded after checking the “non-existent drug” item (10.3%). Girls accounted for 49.2% of the sample. Of the 33 initial questions, 13 were removed due to factor loading of less than 0.5. Two factors were extracted using the scree plot (“drug abuse tendency" and "other risky behavior tendency"). The tendency toward high-risk behavior was significantly higher in male students than in female ones (P < 0.001). This indicates the known group validity of the questionnaire. The Cronbach's alpha of the above-mentioned factors were 0.93 and 0.83, respectively.Conclusion: The questionnaire measuring the tendency toward high-risk behavior among students showed acceptable validity and reliability.
Amin Gousheh; Hassan Ziaaddini; Mohammad Reza Baneshi; Nouzar Nakhaee
Volume 6, 1-2 , Winter 2014, , Pages 22-29
Abstract
Background: Identifying the status of substance misuse and its psychosocial correlates among residents of juvenile correctional centers, as a high risk group, could potentially illuminate the roadmap to prevention of drug use in this group. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 93 individuals aged ...
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Background: Identifying the status of substance misuse and its psychosocial correlates among residents of juvenile correctional centers, as a high risk group, could potentially illuminate the roadmap to prevention of drug use in this group. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 93 individuals aged 13 to 18 were enrolled. A self-administered questionnaire was completed and dropped in a sealed box. It consisted of 4 parts of Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, NEO Personality Inventory, drug use questions, and demographic variables. All questionnaires were well adapted in the Persian language. MANOVA was used to compare the subscale scores between the drug users and nonusers. Findings: All respondents were male and 40% were illiterate. More than 40% had drug dependent fathers. Use of cigarette, opium, and alcohol in the previous 30 days was reported by 31.9, 52.2, and 15.9% of respondents, respectively. In this population, the score of 3 of the 5 personality factors (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) were higher than in the general population (P < 0.001). More than 88% of subjects had negative self-concept. Both the scores of personality and self-concept showed no significant difference based on the status of drug use. Conclusion: Prevalence of lifetime and last-month drug use was found to be high. Regarding the profiles of personality and self-concept, more comprehensive evidence-based interventions are needed for improvement of their mental health.
